SCATTERED THOUGHTS ON RECENT DIGESTS:
Don:
>"This is the only country where the weekly is named after the wrong
>character. Those Germans -- always being contrary!"
David mentioned Italy and United Kingdom, and I'll add Greece, France,
Egypt, Russia, and China. My guess is that MICKEY (MOUSE) is the most
common title for the main title/weekly, and that the US is the only
country with no MICKEY title proper at all.
David:
> Mickey Mysteries
>[...]
> Harry: "Maybe this is an example of the case that Egmont
>gives re-worked Italian material its own numbers?"
> Nope. These are EGMONT stories, but drawn by ITALIAN artists.
>Egmont has quite a program going with Disney Italy to draw the
>now-sizable number of pocket-book stories they make. There you go,
>STRAIGHT from the horse's mouth. (Horace, mind you.)
Uh, I had the idea that Tello Team and Esteban, who do most new Mickeys,
are SPANISH. Not to mention Ferioli (again). A 'orce!?
David again:
> RoC described Scrooge-as-newseditor Strobl stories
> ==================================================
> This is not directed at YOU RoC... but... I don't know about
>anyone else, but I would never buy ANYTHING like this.
You mean to say you haven't read them?
Harry:
>Don, have you ever considered only *writing* Duck comic stories?
All in favor say "AYE!"
If Don is relieved from the hours of inking and blotting out superfluous
details, it would leave him time for so many more *good* stories.
James on DD's Mystery on Mars, DD#286
>>As a story, it has its moments. I don't really know what it's
>>going to feel like, given that Bruce Hamilton apparently wrote an
>>English version almost exactly like the original Italian. I hope he
>>at least put it into duck-speak.
>
>David. I disagree. I hope the translation is almost exact with no
>editing. I think it is important. Most people are more interested
>in this story because of it uniqueness than because of its content.
>I'd rather it be accurate than interesting.
I agree with James' here. I personally lived through a decade of Danish
vandalism to Barks' stories, and once a student of classical filology I
have come to prefer non-edited material to NEW!SUPER!IMPROVED! editions.
A classic Golden Age story like MOM should not be tampered with.
However, I - and probably others on this list - would very much like to
read your script, David, how about posting it?
David:
> As for Snow White sequels -- Pedrocchi and his gang did one
>around 1940 in Italy, which to this day is the Italian story that has
>been printed more times than any other. "Snow White and the Magic
>Basilico" (what's a Basilico? That's one word I can't translate)
The correct title is "Biancaneve e il Mago Basilisco", meaning, and I'm
guessing here, "Snowwhite and the Basilisk Mage".
-
Somebody (and not me, no sir!) discalculated by a fraction; recently I
mused that Danish #2000 had been passed in silence. Today #17/94 came
with a golden "2000" on the cover and a supplementary issue, with the
Barks 10 pager from #1 and the now well known Mau Heymans story.
(The Flux Soap ad is there, but there's only one Donald. Really.)
A MATTER OF FAQ
An innocent mentioning of a FAQ caused a stir, a skirmish, and an out-
burst of true grit with James taking responsibility for the project.
Suggestions to its content range from Torsten's Encyclopedia Calisotica
to James' more modest Tourist's Guide to Duckburg, and as the project
gets rolling, more are bound to follow.
If we stick with the idea of a FAQ as a sort of introductory pamphlet
to future members, it should be readable in itself. No unexplained
acronyms or lists of any kind. Just a straight text piece starting
maybe something like this: "Donald Duck is a mouse." :)
Next to this we could have an encyclopedia, with entries being added as
we go, about all the creators, abbreviations, publishers, book titles,
famous stories, and named objects, characters, and events in Duckburg.
Anyone could join with their favorite subjects, and it would just have
to be alphabetized. Easy job up for grabs...
Me, I'll try and dig up biographies of our app. 400 known creators...
<oLe 'RoC' Reichstein Nielsen, c/o Lasse 'Spot' R.N. (lrn at daimi.aau.dk)>
Author
Topic: 199404
(249 messages)
Lasse Reichstein Nielsen
From RoC
Message 241 -
1994-04-29 at 20:16:08
Robert Reeves
Prices
Message 242 -
1994-04-29 at 20:33:44
Andrew Krieg:
...I remember as a kid, scrimping and saving so I could afford a .25 or .30
comic. Kids today have it very, very rough! Since we are an adult group
discussing Disney comics, we tend to forget that kids are a large part of
comic sales.
I remember when the Gold Key comics went from .25$ to 30 cents. I think
between that and the fact that the stories by 'the good Duck artist' were
getting few and far between caused me to stop bugging my mom for comic book
money. I guess the thrifty Scrooge had rubbed off on me.
The lucky thing was that my girlfriend who is 4 years younger than I was
just getting into the Disney comic habit. When we combine our duck collection
there are surprisingly few repeated issues! Still trying to build a complete
Scrooge collection but at least we don't have to look for those awful
Whitman-era books!
-robert
...I remember as a kid, scrimping and saving so I could afford a .25 or .30
comic. Kids today have it very, very rough! Since we are an adult group
discussing Disney comics, we tend to forget that kids are a large part of
comic sales.
I remember when the Gold Key comics went from .25$ to 30 cents. I think
between that and the fact that the stories by 'the good Duck artist' were
getting few and far between caused me to stop bugging my mom for comic book
money. I guess the thrifty Scrooge had rubbed off on me.
The lucky thing was that my girlfriend who is 4 years younger than I was
just getting into the Disney comic habit. When we combine our duck collection
there are surprisingly few repeated issues! Still trying to build a complete
Scrooge collection but at least we don't have to look for those awful
Whitman-era books!
-robert
Ad Astra Per Elmo
Don Rosa article
Message 243 -
1994-04-29 at 22:18:23
From the [Louisville Kentucky] Courier-Journal, Sunday, 3 April 1994.
Reprinted without permission.
Comic Art
Louisville cartoonist finds fame in Europe with Uncle Scrooge
by Vince Staten (special writer)
At a Norwegian convention center, the tall bearded man can't walk the halls
without being besieged for autographs. Fans flood around, just to get a
glimpse; reporters trail, asking question.
No, he's not an Olympic ski champion or luge hero.
He's Louisville's Don Rosa.
Rosa, who doesn't even get so much as a second look when he roams the
aisles of a local Kroger [sic], is treated like an Olympic champion in many
European countries.
What's going on?
Rosa writes and draws Uncle Scrooge comics for a European comic-book
publisher.
Rosa is an international star among comics fans--and there are millions
of them in Europe. They love his unique rendering of Scrooge McDuck,
Donald's rich uncle. They adore his recent 12-part history of Uncle
Scrooge. And they appreciate his encyclopedic knowledge of comics, comic
characters and comic artists.
If the name Don Rosa sounds familiar, it should. Rosa, a Louisville
native, has been part of the local pop-culture scene for two decades, since
returning to town after his graduation from the University of Kentucky in
1973. He was a regular guest on Milton Metz's WHAS radio show, answering
trivia questions. He's a regular at comics conventions and shows. And
he's probably best-known for his Captain Kentucky comic strip, which ran
for three years in SCENE in the early 1980s.
Best-known for Captain Kentucky until now. Now it is his Uncle Scrooge
comics that are bringing him renown.
Rosa started drawing Uncle Scrooge for Gladstone Comics in 1987. How
he got the job is a story in audacity.
``A little tiny company in Arizona got the Disney license because
nobody in America wanted it anymore,'' he says. ``I saw one of the comics
in a bookstore in '86. So I called up the company and told them I was the
only person who was supposed to write Uncle Scrooge. It was my manifest
destiny.''
He explained how he had been an Uncle Scrooge fan since he was old
enough to turn the pages of a comic book. He told them he owned every
Uncle Scrooge comic published. The audacity worked, and the next day he
was at work on his first Uncle Scrooge story, ``The Son of the Sun.''
Although comic books continued to be popular in Europe, they had all
but disappeared in America, supplanted by ``collectible'' superhero
adventure comics.
Until 1986 that is, when four Disney comics fans in Arizona formed
Gladstone Comics--named for good luck for the character Gladstone
Gander--and snared the Disney license for America. They then landed Rosa
to draw and write for them.
Rosa turned out Uncle Scrooge comics for Gladstone for two
years--``until Disney started screwing around with them, telling them
things, like they couldn't return my artwork. I needed the artwork (to
sell to collectors) because I didn't make that much off the comics. When
they told them not to return the artwork, I had to quit.''
Since Rosa had liquidated his family business, the old Keno Rosa tile
company, he needed to find work. So he did--with Disney.
``I did a little writing for Disney animation,'' he says. ``I wrote
the two first episodes of `Tale Spin.' '' ``Tale Spin'', based on ``The
Jungle Book'', is an animated TV show, part of Disney's syndicated
afternoon cartoon block that runs in Louisville on WBNA-21.
``It was a good job; it paid real well,'' Rosa says. ``But there were
too many fingers in the pie. And I never intended to be a TV screenwriter
anyway. People try for years, and here I fell into it. I didn't enjoy
it.''
In the meantime, he was contacted by a Denmark-based publishing
company--``Egmont, founding 125 years ago by Egmont Peterson.'' Rosa stops
to chuckle at the cartoon-sounding name of Egmont Peterson. ``It's a
worldwide business,'' he continues. ``They didn't name it `Peterson'
because that sounds funny in some languages. `Egmont' only sounds funny in
English.''
Egmont held the European license to Disney comics, and once again Rosa
was writing and drawing his childhood friend Uncle Scrooge.
``Before, they would never have given me a chance because my artwork is
very un-Disney. But they saw how popular the Gladstone comics were and
asked me to draw Uncle Scrooge.''
he has been drawing Donald's rich uncle for Egmont since 1990. And it
has brought him fame--in Europe--if not necessarily fortune.
``I figure I am the best-selling, most-famous, least-paid artist in the
world because Disney takes all the money for itself. There is no royalty.
It gets frustrating, but I knew that's the way it would be so I can't
complain. It's just great to be able to do something that's so much fun
for a living and get paid fairly well.''
Nowadays, Rosa says, a typical issue of Uncle Scrooge will sell 50,000
copies in North America.
``When I was a kid, it sold 3 million,'' he says. ``In Norway it's
still published weekly. They'll sell a quarter of a million a week.
Norway is about the size of the state of Kentucky. So to sell a comparable
amount, it would have to sell 70 million in America. That's not going to
happen.''
<Picture of Don Rosa head and shoulders> [announcement of autograph
session]
<sidebar>
Uncle Scrooge visits River City [Louisville] at Derbytime
Don Rosa's latest Uncle Scrooge project, ``The Life and Times of
Scrooge McDuck,'' is a 12-part history of the wealthy duck.
``Part of their charm is they go on years and years and never change,''
he said of the Disney characters. ``These stories aren't designed to
change them but to show how they got where they are.''
Rosa says his interpretation of Scrooge's history is ``based 100
percent'' on the Uncle Scrooge comics that artist Carl Barks drew from 1947
until 1973.
``There may be one sentence buried on Page 6 of an old issue that said
Scrooge was on a gold rush to Taboolie.''
Rosa takes that one offhand remark and turns it into part of the Uncle
Scrooge history.
The series takes Uncle Scrooge from age 10 to the present, the present
being the 1950s. He says most of his Uncle Scrooge stories take place in
1955--``that's when...I was first reading them.''
Uncle Scrooge's history even include Louisville.
I knew that in the 1880s Scrooge had worked on riverboats, probably for
his Uncle Pothole McDuck on the Mississippi,'' Rosa says. ``I needed to
start someplace in the United States on the Mississippi. So the first
place he stops upriver is Louisville, where he knows his Uncle Pothole is.
``It's Derby Eve 1880, the sixth annual Kentucky Derby, and he finds
his uncle in the Galt House. That's where he meets the Beagle Boys, who
are attracted to Louisville during Derby week.''
Rosa says he devotes four pages to Uncle Scrooge's Louisville
adventures in the Scrooge history. ``And when they leave Louisville, they
head to Monkey's Eyebrow downriver.''
Gladstone Comics of Arizona publishes Rosa's Uncle Scrooge comics for
U.S. distribution. The first installment of ``The Life and Times of
Scrooge McDuck'' was featured in ``Uncle Scrooge No. 285.'' The second
installment, in issue ``Uncle Scrooge No. 286,'' features Scrooge's early
adventures in Louisville. It has just arrived in comics stores.
<Roughs and first draft dialog and finished panels for three Louisville
panels from Lo$> Caption: Don Rosa' work for ``The Life and Times of
Uncle Scrooge'' begins with the captions and roughs of the artwork. Then
he supplies the finished artwork, and someone else copies in the captions.
--
"An idealist is one who, on noticing a rose smells better than cabbage,
concludes that it will also make better soup."--H.L.Mencken
elmo (morrow at physics.rice.edu,morrow at fnal.fnal.gov)
Reprinted without permission.
Comic Art
Louisville cartoonist finds fame in Europe with Uncle Scrooge
by Vince Staten (special writer)
At a Norwegian convention center, the tall bearded man can't walk the halls
without being besieged for autographs. Fans flood around, just to get a
glimpse; reporters trail, asking question.
No, he's not an Olympic ski champion or luge hero.
He's Louisville's Don Rosa.
Rosa, who doesn't even get so much as a second look when he roams the
aisles of a local Kroger [sic], is treated like an Olympic champion in many
European countries.
What's going on?
Rosa writes and draws Uncle Scrooge comics for a European comic-book
publisher.
Rosa is an international star among comics fans--and there are millions
of them in Europe. They love his unique rendering of Scrooge McDuck,
Donald's rich uncle. They adore his recent 12-part history of Uncle
Scrooge. And they appreciate his encyclopedic knowledge of comics, comic
characters and comic artists.
If the name Don Rosa sounds familiar, it should. Rosa, a Louisville
native, has been part of the local pop-culture scene for two decades, since
returning to town after his graduation from the University of Kentucky in
1973. He was a regular guest on Milton Metz's WHAS radio show, answering
trivia questions. He's a regular at comics conventions and shows. And
he's probably best-known for his Captain Kentucky comic strip, which ran
for three years in SCENE in the early 1980s.
Best-known for Captain Kentucky until now. Now it is his Uncle Scrooge
comics that are bringing him renown.
Rosa started drawing Uncle Scrooge for Gladstone Comics in 1987. How
he got the job is a story in audacity.
``A little tiny company in Arizona got the Disney license because
nobody in America wanted it anymore,'' he says. ``I saw one of the comics
in a bookstore in '86. So I called up the company and told them I was the
only person who was supposed to write Uncle Scrooge. It was my manifest
destiny.''
He explained how he had been an Uncle Scrooge fan since he was old
enough to turn the pages of a comic book. He told them he owned every
Uncle Scrooge comic published. The audacity worked, and the next day he
was at work on his first Uncle Scrooge story, ``The Son of the Sun.''
Although comic books continued to be popular in Europe, they had all
but disappeared in America, supplanted by ``collectible'' superhero
adventure comics.
Until 1986 that is, when four Disney comics fans in Arizona formed
Gladstone Comics--named for good luck for the character Gladstone
Gander--and snared the Disney license for America. They then landed Rosa
to draw and write for them.
Rosa turned out Uncle Scrooge comics for Gladstone for two
years--``until Disney started screwing around with them, telling them
things, like they couldn't return my artwork. I needed the artwork (to
sell to collectors) because I didn't make that much off the comics. When
they told them not to return the artwork, I had to quit.''
Since Rosa had liquidated his family business, the old Keno Rosa tile
company, he needed to find work. So he did--with Disney.
``I did a little writing for Disney animation,'' he says. ``I wrote
the two first episodes of `Tale Spin.' '' ``Tale Spin'', based on ``The
Jungle Book'', is an animated TV show, part of Disney's syndicated
afternoon cartoon block that runs in Louisville on WBNA-21.
``It was a good job; it paid real well,'' Rosa says. ``But there were
too many fingers in the pie. And I never intended to be a TV screenwriter
anyway. People try for years, and here I fell into it. I didn't enjoy
it.''
In the meantime, he was contacted by a Denmark-based publishing
company--``Egmont, founding 125 years ago by Egmont Peterson.'' Rosa stops
to chuckle at the cartoon-sounding name of Egmont Peterson. ``It's a
worldwide business,'' he continues. ``They didn't name it `Peterson'
because that sounds funny in some languages. `Egmont' only sounds funny in
English.''
Egmont held the European license to Disney comics, and once again Rosa
was writing and drawing his childhood friend Uncle Scrooge.
``Before, they would never have given me a chance because my artwork is
very un-Disney. But they saw how popular the Gladstone comics were and
asked me to draw Uncle Scrooge.''
he has been drawing Donald's rich uncle for Egmont since 1990. And it
has brought him fame--in Europe--if not necessarily fortune.
``I figure I am the best-selling, most-famous, least-paid artist in the
world because Disney takes all the money for itself. There is no royalty.
It gets frustrating, but I knew that's the way it would be so I can't
complain. It's just great to be able to do something that's so much fun
for a living and get paid fairly well.''
Nowadays, Rosa says, a typical issue of Uncle Scrooge will sell 50,000
copies in North America.
``When I was a kid, it sold 3 million,'' he says. ``In Norway it's
still published weekly. They'll sell a quarter of a million a week.
Norway is about the size of the state of Kentucky. So to sell a comparable
amount, it would have to sell 70 million in America. That's not going to
happen.''
<Picture of Don Rosa head and shoulders> [announcement of autograph
session]
<sidebar>
Uncle Scrooge visits River City [Louisville] at Derbytime
Don Rosa's latest Uncle Scrooge project, ``The Life and Times of
Scrooge McDuck,'' is a 12-part history of the wealthy duck.
``Part of their charm is they go on years and years and never change,''
he said of the Disney characters. ``These stories aren't designed to
change them but to show how they got where they are.''
Rosa says his interpretation of Scrooge's history is ``based 100
percent'' on the Uncle Scrooge comics that artist Carl Barks drew from 1947
until 1973.
``There may be one sentence buried on Page 6 of an old issue that said
Scrooge was on a gold rush to Taboolie.''
Rosa takes that one offhand remark and turns it into part of the Uncle
Scrooge history.
The series takes Uncle Scrooge from age 10 to the present, the present
being the 1950s. He says most of his Uncle Scrooge stories take place in
1955--``that's when...I was first reading them.''
Uncle Scrooge's history even include Louisville.
I knew that in the 1880s Scrooge had worked on riverboats, probably for
his Uncle Pothole McDuck on the Mississippi,'' Rosa says. ``I needed to
start someplace in the United States on the Mississippi. So the first
place he stops upriver is Louisville, where he knows his Uncle Pothole is.
``It's Derby Eve 1880, the sixth annual Kentucky Derby, and he finds
his uncle in the Galt House. That's where he meets the Beagle Boys, who
are attracted to Louisville during Derby week.''
Rosa says he devotes four pages to Uncle Scrooge's Louisville
adventures in the Scrooge history. ``And when they leave Louisville, they
head to Monkey's Eyebrow downriver.''
Gladstone Comics of Arizona publishes Rosa's Uncle Scrooge comics for
U.S. distribution. The first installment of ``The Life and Times of
Scrooge McDuck'' was featured in ``Uncle Scrooge No. 285.'' The second
installment, in issue ``Uncle Scrooge No. 286,'' features Scrooge's early
adventures in Louisville. It has just arrived in comics stores.
<Roughs and first draft dialog and finished panels for three Louisville
panels from Lo$> Caption: Don Rosa' work for ``The Life and Times of
Uncle Scrooge'' begins with the captions and roughs of the artwork. Then
he supplies the finished artwork, and someone else copies in the captions.
--
"An idealist is one who, on noticing a rose smells better than cabbage,
concludes that it will also make better soup."--H.L.Mencken
elmo (morrow at physics.rice.edu,morrow at fnal.fnal.gov)
Matt DUNLAP
Unsubscribe
Message 244 -
1994-04-29 at 22:46:19
UNSUBSCRIBE
Ronald A. Evry (Ronald)
Bone / Kelly / Barks
Message 245 -
1994-04-29 at 23:06:24
David Gerstein has brought up Jeff Smith's "Bone" as being very
much in the
Disney tradition -- with Barks as his prime influence.
I'll pretty much agree on the Disney tradition, but the obvious
flat on its
face influence is Walt Kelly. Of course, the Disney studio
style is perhaps
much more important in Kelly's work than Barks' (IMHO), but
bothe artists
diverged in different directions as their careers progressed.
Kelly's bold brush work made memorable covers & his infrequent
interior comic
work for Disney showed a more visual slapstick orientation than
Barks (who
could slap a stick with the best of 'em: note the neighbor
Jones stories).
Another more neglected influence on Kelly is the magificent
work of T.S.
Sullivant, which seems to be lacking in Smith's stuff.
Needless to say, Smith's work shows promise, and I suppose that
since it is
currently being serialized in Disney Adventures, it makes him
fair game for
potshots from this list...
:)
I read all of the Bones last night (from my thirteen year old
son's collection)
and found them interesting, with obvious parallels of Kelly
characters (Fone
Bone = Pogo, Smiley = Albert [right down to the cigar], and
Phoney = Howland
Owl). There is a hint of more sexuality in the Smith strip (but
not all that
much) and a little more black & white differentiation between
the "good guys"
and the "bad guys."
Still, if I had my druthers, I'd buy a reprint book of, say,
"Prehysterical
Pogo in Pandemonia" (in fact I really would love to get my paws
on that book --
I have Pogo 1st eds. to trade for it) than a new collection of
Bone. But I
still admire what Smith is doing.
Anyone else have any feelings one way or the other?
Ron
<revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu>
much in the
Disney tradition -- with Barks as his prime influence.
I'll pretty much agree on the Disney tradition, but the obvious
flat on its
face influence is Walt Kelly. Of course, the Disney studio
style is perhaps
much more important in Kelly's work than Barks' (IMHO), but
bothe artists
diverged in different directions as their careers progressed.
Kelly's bold brush work made memorable covers & his infrequent
interior comic
work for Disney showed a more visual slapstick orientation than
Barks (who
could slap a stick with the best of 'em: note the neighbor
Jones stories).
Another more neglected influence on Kelly is the magificent
work of T.S.
Sullivant, which seems to be lacking in Smith's stuff.
Needless to say, Smith's work shows promise, and I suppose that
since it is
currently being serialized in Disney Adventures, it makes him
fair game for
potshots from this list...
:)
I read all of the Bones last night (from my thirteen year old
son's collection)
and found them interesting, with obvious parallels of Kelly
characters (Fone
Bone = Pogo, Smiley = Albert [right down to the cigar], and
Phoney = Howland
Owl). There is a hint of more sexuality in the Smith strip (but
not all that
much) and a little more black & white differentiation between
the "good guys"
and the "bad guys."
Still, if I had my druthers, I'd buy a reprint book of, say,
"Prehysterical
Pogo in Pandemonia" (in fact I really would love to get my paws
on that book --
I have Pogo 1st eds. to trade for it) than a new collection of
Bone. But I
still admire what Smith is doing.
Anyone else have any feelings one way or the other?
Ron
<revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu>
David A Gerstein
Disney-comics digest #314.
Message 246 -
1994-04-30 at 05:06:57
Hi, Folks!
A whole lotta things to banter about today! So let's wind up
the week with:
Don on Marvel's distribution
============================
"I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed
by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other
Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be
Marvel falling down on the job..."
I'll say it is. My local drugstore does fairly good Disney
business -- sells only about 3 of each issue (of 5 which they're
shipped), but no more of almost every other comic they get, including
superhero stuff.
But Marvel NEVER ships them UNCLE SCROOGE. NEVER. Whenever
it's the month for DDA/WDC&S/US, which are supposed to be a week
apart, there's always a 1-week break where WDC&S should be, and then
it comes, alone, the next week when there should also be US.
Nope, from #283-286 (those have appeared on newsstands since
I've been at school this year), none of them have shown up here. I've
had to have Mark Semich send them to me.
A newsstand at a mall some ten miles from here gets all
Gladstones, and puts them all out. They DO get US, although I don't
know about the other titles... four were there: DM, US, WDC&S, DDA.
It's clear that, like most places, they remove DDA when DD comes up
and vice versa... same with Scrooge titles.
I'll see comic racks of Marvels in supermarkets. Very often
with Gladstones among them. But by no means always.
In airports, there are racks of comics sometimes. When the
rack only has, say, space for 8 different comics, Marvel will NEVER
put Disneys in it. But if it has 12 titles, there's at least one
place for Gladstones... sometimes two.
Elon on Super-Fethry
====================
"Has anybody seen stories in which Fethry Duck is a superhero
(Batman-like, but Fethry-style, if you know what I mean)? The name was
"Morcego Vermelho" in Brazil."
Never saw them. Sounds like Disney in this country would find
it too close for comfort to Darkwing Duck, though. Darkwing even
looks (a little) like a costumed Fethry, although not as much without
his costume on.
Is Darkwing on TV in Brazil? If not, these could be Darkwing
stories from DISNEY ADVENTURES redrawn for Fethry.
Ron Evry on BONE as Kelly
=========================
"[This strip contains] obvious parallels of Kelly characters
(Fone Bone = Pogo, Smiley = Albert [right down to the cigar], and
Phoney = Howland Owl)."
Jeff Smith himself has drawn this connection: Fone Bone =
Mickey Mouse, Smiley = Goofy, and Phoney = Uncle Scrooge! Believe it
or don't!
"I'd [like to] buy a reprint book of, say, "Prehysterical
Pogo in Pandemonia" (in fact I really would love to get my paws on
that book --)"
Haw! You gone about it absolutibobble wrong! Just take yo'
natcheral born self down to some used-book shops, all and sundry-like.
Soon er later you find yo' self some character who don't know
CO-lecters pay inbelievabubble potfuls for them books. S'what I did
-- at a store near my house, where'bouts "Prehysterical Pogo" cost me
a true-blue *** $3.50!!! ***
Destroy a boy's faith in decent prices, will you?
David Gerstein
"A good landeeng, no, Dawnaldo?"
"NO!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
A whole lotta things to banter about today! So let's wind up
the week with:
Don on Marvel's distribution
============================
"I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed
by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other
Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be
Marvel falling down on the job..."
I'll say it is. My local drugstore does fairly good Disney
business -- sells only about 3 of each issue (of 5 which they're
shipped), but no more of almost every other comic they get, including
superhero stuff.
But Marvel NEVER ships them UNCLE SCROOGE. NEVER. Whenever
it's the month for DDA/WDC&S/US, which are supposed to be a week
apart, there's always a 1-week break where WDC&S should be, and then
it comes, alone, the next week when there should also be US.
Nope, from #283-286 (those have appeared on newsstands since
I've been at school this year), none of them have shown up here. I've
had to have Mark Semich send them to me.
A newsstand at a mall some ten miles from here gets all
Gladstones, and puts them all out. They DO get US, although I don't
know about the other titles... four were there: DM, US, WDC&S, DDA.
It's clear that, like most places, they remove DDA when DD comes up
and vice versa... same with Scrooge titles.
I'll see comic racks of Marvels in supermarkets. Very often
with Gladstones among them. But by no means always.
In airports, there are racks of comics sometimes. When the
rack only has, say, space for 8 different comics, Marvel will NEVER
put Disneys in it. But if it has 12 titles, there's at least one
place for Gladstones... sometimes two.
Elon on Super-Fethry
====================
"Has anybody seen stories in which Fethry Duck is a superhero
(Batman-like, but Fethry-style, if you know what I mean)? The name was
"Morcego Vermelho" in Brazil."
Never saw them. Sounds like Disney in this country would find
it too close for comfort to Darkwing Duck, though. Darkwing even
looks (a little) like a costumed Fethry, although not as much without
his costume on.
Is Darkwing on TV in Brazil? If not, these could be Darkwing
stories from DISNEY ADVENTURES redrawn for Fethry.
Ron Evry on BONE as Kelly
=========================
"[This strip contains] obvious parallels of Kelly characters
(Fone Bone = Pogo, Smiley = Albert [right down to the cigar], and
Phoney = Howland Owl)."
Jeff Smith himself has drawn this connection: Fone Bone =
Mickey Mouse, Smiley = Goofy, and Phoney = Uncle Scrooge! Believe it
or don't!
"I'd [like to] buy a reprint book of, say, "Prehysterical
Pogo in Pandemonia" (in fact I really would love to get my paws on
that book --)"
Haw! You gone about it absolutibobble wrong! Just take yo'
natcheral born self down to some used-book shops, all and sundry-like.
Soon er later you find yo' self some character who don't know
CO-lecters pay inbelievabubble potfuls for them books. S'what I did
-- at a store near my house, where'bouts "Prehysterical Pogo" cost me
a true-blue *** $3.50!!! ***
Destroy a boy's faith in decent prices, will you?
David Gerstein
"A good landeeng, no, Dawnaldo?"
"NO!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
Don Rosa
Disney-comics digest #314.
Message 247 -
1994-04-30 at 06:02:01
HARRY:
My Lo$ stories are now the BACK-UP stories in DONALD DUCK
EXTRA??? Well, howcum? You think they weren't so popular? Or... maybe
they preferred having a Donald Duck cover than a character who was not
recognizeable as either Donald or $crooge. What's been the lead
features?
FABIO:
Did you receive the package of magazines I sent?
MM MEETS THE AIR PIRATES FUNNIES:
I recently learned an interesting detail in the story of Disney
suing Dan O'Neil over this underground MM parody. Regardless of the
content, I think we can agree that Disney had every right to sue...
whether it had been obscene or not. We've discussed (haven't we?) that
Disney has little choice than to persue such copyright infringements,
otherwise they are liable for lawsuits from their paid licensees and for
establishing the basis for someone to negate the Disney copywrite to
their own characters due to their allowing others to use them (you can't
retain a copywrite if you are shown as not having defended it).
Anyway, someone who was part of the underground industry at the
time of the AIR PIRATES FUNNIES told me that Disney was absolutely
powerless to stop or even object to the publication of issue one of MM
MEETS THE AP. This falls under free use as a parody, protected under the
first ammendment and all that. But once there was an issue #2 -- ho,
ho... that mdid the trick! At that moment it was clear that the idea was
not as a parody but as a continuing infringement of copywrite! And
Disney was very "big" in settling for simply the ownership of the books
(which law already gave them) rather than punitive damages to which they
were entitled. This is why you've never seen MAD publish a series of
parodies, rather than just one-shot parodies.
Somebody was mentioning those awful Whitman Disneys. Yeah, they
sucked, but, y'know, it gets irritating for me to have a full set of
every (American) Disney comic book ever published... EXCEPT some Whitman
issues. Have I ever posted a list of the Whitmans I need to see if
anyone here can help me fill in the holes? I'll do so now. I would be
very grateful to get any of these -- maybe even do someone a Duck
drawing (in addition to paying) if they can supply me with any of these,
ESPECIALLY the UNCLE $CROOGE issue I lack. Here's my wantlist:
UNCLE $CROOGE #179
DONALD DUCK #222 243
WDC&S #480
MICKEY MOUSE #208 210 216
HUEY DEWEY & LOUIE #61 65 66 72 73 75 76 79 80
DAISY & DONALD #39(GK) 45 47 49 53 54 55 56
SUPER GOOF #61 62 64 67 68 70 72 74
CHIP & DALE #68 69 70 75 76 77 78 79 80
WINNIE THE POOH #21 22 24 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
And while we're at it, here are some Gold Keys that I need:
ARISTOKITTENS #3
MOBY DUCK #29
O'MALLEY & THE ALLEY CATS #9
SCAMP #15 17 18
And these movie adaptations or wotever:
CINDERELLA (GK)
JUNGLE BOOK (Whitman)
LADY & THE TRAMP (GK,25 cents)
Of course, I collect nearly ALL old comics, but these are only
the Disney issues I need.
DON ROSA ARTICLE:
I waited until someone posted this article as promised before
making a few comments. Naturally, the local reporter, an old friend and
whose job it was to make me sound important, DID exaggerate how popular
I am in Norway (but not by much!). There were also tiny inaccuracies
that crop up in such interviews when the reporter doesn't know much
about what he's writing -- you all spotted those. I didn't realize that
the guy had the impression that I ONLY do Uncle $crooge comics, and NOT
also Donald Duck stories! But I thought it was especially amusing that
the newspaper typesetters seemed to have no idea that anyone would have
an autograph session to sign mere COMIC BOOKS... and always wrote the
current issues that I was signing as "UNCLE SCROOGE No. 285" and "UNCLE
SCROOGE No. 286" -- I honestly believe that they thought these were
NOVELS that I'd written!
My Lo$ stories are now the BACK-UP stories in DONALD DUCK
EXTRA??? Well, howcum? You think they weren't so popular? Or... maybe
they preferred having a Donald Duck cover than a character who was not
recognizeable as either Donald or $crooge. What's been the lead
features?
FABIO:
Did you receive the package of magazines I sent?
MM MEETS THE AIR PIRATES FUNNIES:
I recently learned an interesting detail in the story of Disney
suing Dan O'Neil over this underground MM parody. Regardless of the
content, I think we can agree that Disney had every right to sue...
whether it had been obscene or not. We've discussed (haven't we?) that
Disney has little choice than to persue such copyright infringements,
otherwise they are liable for lawsuits from their paid licensees and for
establishing the basis for someone to negate the Disney copywrite to
their own characters due to their allowing others to use them (you can't
retain a copywrite if you are shown as not having defended it).
Anyway, someone who was part of the underground industry at the
time of the AIR PIRATES FUNNIES told me that Disney was absolutely
powerless to stop or even object to the publication of issue one of MM
MEETS THE AP. This falls under free use as a parody, protected under the
first ammendment and all that. But once there was an issue #2 -- ho,
ho... that mdid the trick! At that moment it was clear that the idea was
not as a parody but as a continuing infringement of copywrite! And
Disney was very "big" in settling for simply the ownership of the books
(which law already gave them) rather than punitive damages to which they
were entitled. This is why you've never seen MAD publish a series of
parodies, rather than just one-shot parodies.
Somebody was mentioning those awful Whitman Disneys. Yeah, they
sucked, but, y'know, it gets irritating for me to have a full set of
every (American) Disney comic book ever published... EXCEPT some Whitman
issues. Have I ever posted a list of the Whitmans I need to see if
anyone here can help me fill in the holes? I'll do so now. I would be
very grateful to get any of these -- maybe even do someone a Duck
drawing (in addition to paying) if they can supply me with any of these,
ESPECIALLY the UNCLE $CROOGE issue I lack. Here's my wantlist:
UNCLE $CROOGE #179
DONALD DUCK #222 243
WDC&S #480
MICKEY MOUSE #208 210 216
HUEY DEWEY & LOUIE #61 65 66 72 73 75 76 79 80
DAISY & DONALD #39(GK) 45 47 49 53 54 55 56
SUPER GOOF #61 62 64 67 68 70 72 74
CHIP & DALE #68 69 70 75 76 77 78 79 80
WINNIE THE POOH #21 22 24 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
And while we're at it, here are some Gold Keys that I need:
ARISTOKITTENS #3
MOBY DUCK #29
O'MALLEY & THE ALLEY CATS #9
SCAMP #15 17 18
And these movie adaptations or wotever:
CINDERELLA (GK)
JUNGLE BOOK (Whitman)
LADY & THE TRAMP (GK,25 cents)
Of course, I collect nearly ALL old comics, but these are only
the Disney issues I need.
DON ROSA ARTICLE:
I waited until someone posted this article as promised before
making a few comments. Naturally, the local reporter, an old friend and
whose job it was to make me sound important, DID exaggerate how popular
I am in Norway (but not by much!). There were also tiny inaccuracies
that crop up in such interviews when the reporter doesn't know much
about what he's writing -- you all spotted those. I didn't realize that
the guy had the impression that I ONLY do Uncle $crooge comics, and NOT
also Donald Duck stories! But I thought it was especially amusing that
the newspaper typesetters seemed to have no idea that anyone would have
an autograph session to sign mere COMIC BOOKS... and always wrote the
current issues that I was signing as "UNCLE SCROOGE No. 285" and "UNCLE
SCROOGE No. 286" -- I honestly believe that they thought these were
NOVELS that I'd written!
Tryg Helseth
Marvels and Whitmans
Message 248 -
1994-04-30 at 16:39:57
MARVELS:
David Gerstein wrote:
> But Marvel NEVER ships them UNCLE SCROOGE. NEVER. Whenever
>it's the month for DDA/WDC&S/US, which are supposed to be a week
>apart, there's always a 1-week break where WDC&S should be, and then
>it comes, alone, the next week when there should also be US.
I haven't been following the Marvel distribution of Gladstones, but the few
racks I checked didn't have any Disney titles. Does Marvel now have its own
distribution, or do they sub-contract to local news agencies. Before direct
distribution, the only game in town here (Minneapolis) was Gopher News
Agency. If they didn't carry it, you didn't get it.
> In airports, there are racks of comics sometimes. When the
>rack only has, say, space for 8 different comics, Marvel will NEVER
>put Disneys in it. But if it has 12 titles, there's at least one
>place for Gladstones... sometimes two.
I'm sure they will always give preference to their own characters comics.
That is the problem with the racks I've seen--they are too small and
so Gladstone gets squeezed out.
> A newsstand at a mall [...] DO get US, [...] It's clear that,
>like most places, they remove DDA when DD comes upand vice versa... same
>with Scrooge titles.
I never did understand why Gladstone gave those comics such similar titles!
It is confusing to me at times, so it's no wonder that the folks refilling
the racks never bother to make the distinction between them.
WHITMANS:
Don Rosa wrote:
> Somebody was mentioning those awful Whitman Disneys. Yeah, they
>sucked, but, [...] I would be very grateful to get any of these -- maybe
>even do someone a Duck drawing (in addition to paying) if they can supply
>me with any of these, ESPECIALLY the UNCLE $CROOGE issue I lack.
> UNCLE $CROOGE #179
> DONALD DUCK #222 243
> WDC&S #480
Well I was all set to send in my request for a drawing of Gyro until I
checked my records and realized I was missing the same comics! (I may,
however, have DD 243, and many of the other titles (MM, HD&L, D&D, SG, C&D,
WtP...) I'll look for those this weekend...
Tryg Helseth <trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu> Minneapolis, MN, USA
or <tryg.helseth at tstation.mn.org>
"I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes
David Gerstein wrote:
> But Marvel NEVER ships them UNCLE SCROOGE. NEVER. Whenever
>it's the month for DDA/WDC&S/US, which are supposed to be a week
>apart, there's always a 1-week break where WDC&S should be, and then
>it comes, alone, the next week when there should also be US.
I haven't been following the Marvel distribution of Gladstones, but the few
racks I checked didn't have any Disney titles. Does Marvel now have its own
distribution, or do they sub-contract to local news agencies. Before direct
distribution, the only game in town here (Minneapolis) was Gopher News
Agency. If they didn't carry it, you didn't get it.
> In airports, there are racks of comics sometimes. When the
>rack only has, say, space for 8 different comics, Marvel will NEVER
>put Disneys in it. But if it has 12 titles, there's at least one
>place for Gladstones... sometimes two.
I'm sure they will always give preference to their own characters comics.
That is the problem with the racks I've seen--they are too small and
so Gladstone gets squeezed out.
> A newsstand at a mall [...] DO get US, [...] It's clear that,
>like most places, they remove DDA when DD comes upand vice versa... same
>with Scrooge titles.
I never did understand why Gladstone gave those comics such similar titles!
It is confusing to me at times, so it's no wonder that the folks refilling
the racks never bother to make the distinction between them.
WHITMANS:
Don Rosa wrote:
> Somebody was mentioning those awful Whitman Disneys. Yeah, they
>sucked, but, [...] I would be very grateful to get any of these -- maybe
>even do someone a Duck drawing (in addition to paying) if they can supply
>me with any of these, ESPECIALLY the UNCLE $CROOGE issue I lack.
> UNCLE $CROOGE #179
> DONALD DUCK #222 243
> WDC&S #480
Well I was all set to send in my request for a drawing of Gyro until I
checked my records and realized I was missing the same comics! (I may,
however, have DD 243, and many of the other titles (MM, HD&L, D&D, SG, C&D,
WtP...) I'll look for those this weekend...
Tryg Helseth <trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu> Minneapolis, MN, USA
or <tryg.helseth at tstation.mn.org>
"I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes
Wilmer Rivers
Getting Gladstones (FAQ)
Message 249 -
1994-04-30 at 20:55:36
I e-mailed subscription information about Gladstones to Elon, but
now I realize that other people on the list may want to know it too.
This should probably be included in the FAQ. Gladstone publishes 6
titles: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Scrooge
Adventures, Donald Duck, Donald Duck Adventures, and Donald and Mickey.
The subscription price is the same for each of these : $18.00 in the
USA, $23.00 foreign. Order them from:
Gladstone
P.O. Box 2079
Prescott, Arizona 86302
USA
The FAQ should probably also include information about subscribing to
the CBL in Color albums. How about information on subscribing to
Disney comics published in Europe, too?
As for me, I think I'll go into self-publishing with a "Scrooge and
Penny Wise" teen-age romance comic. :-) I'm sure the Walt Disney
Corporation (and Unca Carl) would approve enthusiastically...
Wilmer Rivers
now I realize that other people on the list may want to know it too.
This should probably be included in the FAQ. Gladstone publishes 6
titles: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Scrooge
Adventures, Donald Duck, Donald Duck Adventures, and Donald and Mickey.
The subscription price is the same for each of these : $18.00 in the
USA, $23.00 foreign. Order them from:
Gladstone
P.O. Box 2079
Prescott, Arizona 86302
USA
The FAQ should probably also include information about subscribing to
the CBL in Color albums. How about information on subscribing to
Disney comics published in Europe, too?
As for me, I think I'll go into self-publishing with a "Scrooge and
Penny Wise" teen-age romance comic. :-) I'm sure the Walt Disney
Corporation (and Unca Carl) would approve enthusiastically...
Wilmer Rivers